Machine for decorticating fibrous plants



June 26, 1934. w. J. HOLLIER MACHINE FOR DECORTICATING FIBROUS PLANTS Filed April 15. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 26, 1934. w. J. HOLLIER MACHINE FOR DECORTICATING FI B ROUS PLANTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 15. 1931 W- J- H lli June 26, 1934. w 1,964,120

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moooaooonooaoou n0 QMMW Jun 26, 1934. w. J. HOLLIER MACHINE FOR DECORTICAIING FIBROUS PLANTS Filed April 15. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented June 26, 1934 UNITE S FICE MACHINE FOR DECGRTECATING FIEEUUS PLANTS Waiter John Hoilier, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 15, 1931? Serial No. 530,408 in Great Britain .ianuary 2, 1931 ll Ciainzs.

This invention relates to machines particularly adapted to the separation and cleaning of the fibre of retted and unretted flax straw for manufacturing purposes although it is equally applicable to the decorticating of ramie, hemp,

jute and other fibrous plants particularly of the stalk variety.

In its broadest aspect the invention is applicable to decorticating machines generally and has for its object to devise improvements in the construction and arrangement of such machines which will produce clean fibre without material breakage of the same or any diminution in its length.

The invention consists in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts, hereinafter described and more fully pointed out in the claims.

The invention may also be considered to consist of two endless carriers, travelling in opposite directions and in straight lines as respects their operative surfaces each of said carriers being provided at suitable intervals with transverse bars, each of which bars embodies in its construction a stationary and a movable set of pins arranged in spaced relation and extending longitudinally of the bars; or" means for feeding the stalks in succession over the respective decorticators in a manner to secure the decortication first of the outer end portions of the stalks and then of the butt end portions thereof; and of means, located at the feeding end of each decorticator, for moving the movable set of pins to bring them into alignment with the stationary set or" pins, whereby the stalks may enter the open spaces between the adjacent sets of pins, and immediately thereafter for moving the movable set of pins out of alignment with the stationary pins, whereby to flex, or bend about an angle, the stalks resting in the transverse spaces provided when the movable and stationary sets of pins were in alignment, so that, the successive bars are moved lengthwise of the stalks, the latter will be progressively bent and rubbed by the passage of the pins thereover, with the result that the inner woody ma terial and the outer husk or vegetable matter will be thorougnuy broken up or disintegrated and removed from about the fibre.

A feature of importance of the invention resides in the novel construction of the stripper bars, constituting the operative members of the decorticators, and essentially in the fact that each of bars provides for a gradually increased severity in the decorticating action as the stalks are fed sidewise over the decorticators and from one end to the other of the said stripper bars. Stated more in detail, this feature consists in providing a row of movable and a row of stationary pins at the feeding end of the bar which are spaced a relatively wide distance apart, both transversely as respects the ins of the two rows, and longitudinally as respects the pins in the same row; in providing in the central portion of each bar a closer arrange-- ment of the pins both transversely and longitudinally; and in the opposite, or finishing end portion of each bar, providing a still closer arrangement of the stripper pins in both directions, as above, and in providing a second set of stationary pins so that the row of movable pins, in this portion of the bar, will move between two rows of stationary pins, whereby the stalks will be bent at a more acute angle as the three sets of pins are drawn over them, with the result of increasing the rubbing or brushing action of the pins.

Another feature of novelty as respects the stripper bars consists in dividing the movable pins into two longitudinal sections, and in simultaneously moving said sections to bring the pins thereof into and out of alignment with the stationary pins of the bars so that the stalks engaged by the pins at the feed end of the bar will not prevent the proper movement of the pins in the opposite end portion of the bar, which may be considered as the finishing end.

Further features of the invention will be apparent from the description given hereafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one convenient form of apparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved machine indicated more or less diagrammatically and with parts omitted for the sake of clearness.

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevation of mechanism employed in the preliminary combing and deseeding sections.

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2.

Figures 4 and 5 are elevations partly in section showing the feeding and finishing portions of a stripper bar hereinafter described with the cam device for operating the same.

Figure 5 is a plan on a smaller scale of the bar shown in Figures 4 and 5 in the position into which it is moved by its cam operating gear while Figure '7 is a similar view showing the same bar in its normal position.

Figures 8 and 9 are end views of Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 10 is an enlarged cross section showing a feed belt or band in accordance with the invention.

Figure 11 is a section on the line l1--ll of Figure 1.

Figure 12 is an isometric diagrammatic view of the drive mechanism of the machine.

Figure 13 is an elevation of a further detail and Figure 14 is an end view of Figure 13.

According to the present invention, apparatus is provided in which masses of stalks are in appropriate sections of the apparatus later to be described, successively combed and decorticated and then simultaneously hackled and decorticated. The said sections are duplicated and are so arranged in relation to one another that each stalk is subjected throughout its entire length to the above-mentioned actions as the result of which it is converted during its passage through the apparatus into fibre which may be immediately formed into thread without requiring any further treatment.

In a combing section a mass of stalks is subjected to a combing action by which the stalks are disentangled from and laid parallel to one another in readiness for the subsequent processes and it should be noted that'the word combing as used herein is taken to refer solely to such a process.

During the first part of the passage of the stalks through a decorticating and hackling section they are subjected to a process of decortication only. This consists in the separation of the bark or woody matter from the fibres by the subjection of the stalks to a combined bending and rubbing action in which the bark is broken into short lengths, loosened from and finally detached from the fibres. Towards the end of their passage through this section, the stalks are subjected to a hackling process in addition to the decorticating process. By this, the fibres are freed from one another and are finally reduced to a condition, at their discharge from the machine, in which they are ready to be formed immediately into thread.

In carrying my invention into effect in one convenient manner I form my improved machine with any convenient framework foundation or support and I provide the same generally with a preliminary combing section indicated at A, a decorticating section indicated at B for decortieating the root or butt ends of the stalks and a further dccorticating section C adapted somewhat to overlap the section B so as to permit of the remainder of the stalks being decorticated while enabling the fibres to be securely held and passed through the machine during the decorticating operations.

Preferably also I provide a fourth section D for de-seeding or cleaning the ends of the stalks remote from the butt ends and preferably such de-seeding operation is carried out simultaneously with the decortication of the butt ends.

The preliminary combing section A is conveniently arranged in relation to the decorticating section so that there is a space at the front end (as shown in Figure 1) by means of which the stalks or fibrous matter may be fed to the machine either by hand or from a hopper or by a conveyor or other suitable means.

In order to provide for the conveyance of the fibrous matter from one end to the other of the machine I arrange conveyor belts or bands and preferably I provide a separate set for each section of the machine, the conveyor belts or bands of the respective sections overlapping one another enabling fibres to be gripped by one set before being released from the next preceding set.

Such conveyor belts or bands for the respective sections are indicated, for example, at a, b and c and preferably in order to secure a firm grip upon the fibrous matter so as to ensure that the same shall not be dragged from the feed belts or bands by the relatively considerable pull upon the fibres developed by my particular decorticating arrangements which will hereinafter be described, I form the conveyor belts or bands from rubber or like material and I corrugate the adjacent surfaces with the corrugations of one belt intermeshing with those of the other as clearly indicated in Figure 10.

The combing section A of the machine Clllprises two endless chains or like members 0. adapted to be driven by sprockets, pulleys or the like, and carrying a plurality of cleaning bars a having a series of pins or like members spaced apart along their length and by means of which the fibrous material receives a preliminary bruising, crushing or combing treatment.

The de-seeding or cleaning section D is fitted with similar bars d one of which is shown upon a larger scale in Figure 2 from which it will be seen that each of the bars employed in the preliminary combing and de-seeding sections comprises a cast or other supporting bar d in a slot in which is securely held a bar (1 having a series of pins or projections d thereon and conveniently the spacing of the pins or projections upon the bars becomes progressively closer from the feed end towards the finishing end as shown in Figure 2.

Preferably I make the projections d in the form of staples so that such projections will enter smoothly between the stalks or fibres and so perform their function without material damage to the fibres.

The material to be treated is thus passed by the feed belt a through the preliminary combing section in which it is subjected to a combing action of progressively increasing severity and before leaving the combing section the fibres are gripped by the bands I) in order to be carried through the preliminary decorticating section B and de-seeding section D. The construction f the latter has already been indicated above and as regards the decorticating section there are provided endless chains 17 driven by sprockets D and carrying a plurality of stripping devices. Each stripping device comprises a fixed member 12 carried by the sprocket chains in a longi-- tudinal slot in which is mounted a bar b which is fixed in the member 21 and which carries a plurality of staples b Mounted in a longitudinal slot in the member 12 is a further bar also carrying or staples b it being preferred to employ staples at the feed end and centre sections of the stripper bars while pins are preferably provided at the finishing end at which the fibres naturally require a finer treatment.

The staples upon the fixed member span the movable member and the pins or staples therein, and in the case of these stripper bars the advantage of employing staples is that they prevent any tendency on the part of the stalks or fibres to jump off the pins or projections when stretched between them by the movement of the relatively movable members as hereinafter indicated.

Figure '7 shows the normal position of a stripper bar in which the fibres are caused to take a circuitous path through the bar so that as the bar moves past the fibres in such stretched condition it subjects the same to a severe bending, flattening, scraping and cleaning action serving to remove the pulpy matter from the fibres as is required for efficient decortication. It is evident, however, that the fibres could not be entered into the bars in this position, and I therefore provide means for automatically moving the inner member so as to bring the pins into alignment as shown in Figure 6 in order that the fibres may thus be entered between the pins or staples and thereafter the inner bar is returned to its normal position shown in Figure 7 by spring action or otherwise. Thus in a particular construction illustrated I provide adjacent the entering end of the decorticating section B a fixed cam shaft 0 having a plurality of disc cams c fixed thereon (and which cam shaft has some of the sprockets 12 freely rotatable thereon) and upon each stripper bar I mount a lug upon the fixed member 17 and a lug 0 upon the movable member b the lugs being normally spaced apart by a spring 0 which thus holds the bar in its normal position shown in Figure 7.

Passing through both lugs is a plunger 0 which is preferably ball-ended as shown at c and the arrangement is such that upon passing the cams the plungers are moved so as to move the movable bar against the action of the controlling spring into the position shown in Figure 6, in which position the fibres are received between the pins or staples and as soon as the plunger has passed I out of the region of action of the cam the spring operates to return the stripper bar to its normal position.

Conveniently I arrange for alternate stripper bars to be moved right-handed and left-handed so as to provide for a still greater stretching and scraping of the fibres and I therefore provide right and left-hand cams for operating upon these alternate bars.

Preferably the decorticating section at its finishing end is also provided with a plurality of cleaning bars b" which are arranged in between the stripper bars and which are provided with non-shifting pins substantially in the manner described with reference to the preliminary combing and de-seeding sections. Such a bar is indicated on an enlarged scale in Figures 13 and 14 from which it will be seen that this construction is similar to that previously described except that in this case the pins are sharp-pointed pins 1) set at an inclination to the bar as indicated in Figure 14.

The final decorticating section C is substantially identical in its construction and arrangement to the section B and it is thought therefore that no further description of this section will be needed.

Any convenient drive may be employed for my improved machine, and if necessary or desirable I may provide a separate drive for each section as indicated in the drawings but the drive for the whole machine may be taken from a single main shaft through suitable gearing. In the construction shown, a shaft d, driven by a pulley d drives the sprocket chains of both the combing section A and the decorticating section B, and through the medium of bevels e, f, and auxiliary shaft f drives the sprocket chains of the deseeding section D.

A shaft 9, driven by a pulley g drives the conveyor belts or bands a, b, c, and if necessary may through the medium of bevels g h and auxiliary shaft h positively drive the shaft g which is common to the conveyor belts or bands 12, c.

The drive, as described, is clearly indicated in Figure 12 but it will be understood that this is purely for the sake of example as any other suitable arrangement may be employed.

If necessary or desirable I may provide auxiliary conveyor or supporting bands 2' for supporting the fibrous material during its transference from the section D to the section C and conveyor belts 1c are provided at the discharge end of the machine for conveying or discharging the finished fibre.

The operation of the machine may be briefly stated as follows:-

The attendant places bundles of stalks between the gripping belts a with the butt or root ends located in the path of the preliminary combing section A so that the butt ends of the stalks are subjected to a preliminary combing action by operation of the cleaning bars a After passing the combing section A the stalks are then gripped between the belts b and carried past the decorticating and de-seeding sections B, D which operate upon the combed butt ends and the untreated ends of the stalks remote from the butts respectively, the butt ends in passing through this decorticating section being subjected in succession to the action of the stripper bars b and the cleaning bars 0 while the other ends of the stalks are subjected to the action of the bars d As each stripper bar passes over the upper side of the sprockets of the shaft 0 and assumes a horizontal position the ball 0 on the spring-controlled plungers c engage the cams c and move the sliding bar 12 to bring the stripping pins or staples b into alignment with the pins or staples b on the fixed bar 12 this position of the said bars and pins being shown in Figure 6. The stalks fall into the transverse spaces between these sets of pins, and as the balls 0 pass off the cams, the plungers 0 will be snapped forward by the action of the springs 0 moving the slide bar b to carry their stripping pins out of alignment with the pins on bar b with which they were previously aligned, into the position shown in Figure '7 of the drawings. This movement of the stripping pins of the slide bars will cause the stalks to be bent or flexed, and as the stripping pins move outward to the outer ends of the stalks, the latter will be progressively bent and rubbed, whereby the husk, or vegetable matter will be broken and removed from about the fibre of the stalks and the fibre prepared for manufacturing or other purposes.

At the finishing end of the decorticating section B the butt ends of the stalks are subjected to the additional action of the cleaning bars b above described. This process is repeated with each successive bars b b as the stalks are carried by the gripping belts b, past the decorticator section B, with the result that by the time the stalks have reached the end of the finishing part of the decorticator and are ready to pass off the of which the stalks are carried past the other decorticating section C in which the ends of the stalks remote from the butts including the portion of the stalks previously gripped by the beltsb are combed and decorticated in a similar manner as described with reference to the decorticating section B so that the fibre in the entire length of the stalks is thus cleaned, the finished fibre being discharged at the end of the machine as by means of the conveying belts k.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the particular details of construction given in regard to the cleaning and stripper bars and pins, staples or other treating members carried thereby, nor is it to be limited to the particular number of sections described, while I may vary the means adopted for driving the various parts of the machine depending upon any particular practical requirements that may have to be fulfilled.

I claim:

1. A machine for decorticating fibrous plants comprising cooperating stationary and movable bars, a plurality of fixed staples on each of the bars, the staples on the fixed bars spanning the movable bar sections and the staples carried thereby, means for actuating the movable bars when they arrive at a point adjacent the feeding and gripping means, and a conveyor device for receiving the medial portions of the plants and transporting same past the decorticating means.

2. A machine for decorticating fibrous plants as claimed in claim 1, wherein the decorticating means include cooperating stationary and movable bars, certain movable bars being formed in sections positioned in alignment with each other, and means for moving the bars on reaching a position adjacent the feeding means including spring controlled plungers on the sections of the movable bars and disc cams for acting on said plungers.

3. A machine for decorticating fibrous plants as claimed in claim 1, wherein the decorticating means include cooperating stationary and movable bars, certain movable bars being formed in sections positioned in alignment with each other, means for moving the bars on reaching the position adjacent the feeding means including spring controlled plungers on the sections of the movable bars, disc cams for acting on said plungers, and a series of cleaning bars intermediate the stripper bars and extending substantially from the center of the decorticating section to the finishing end, and each provided with a series of pins fixed with relation to the bar.

4. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, the combination of a combing section comprising endless bands, bars carried by said bands, and staples on said bars, and two decorticating and hackling sections for operating in succession upon opposite ends of the stalks and each comprising in combination endless bands, fixed bars carried thereby and having staples thereon, bars slidably mounted on said fixed bars and having staples and pins thereon, cams for bringing the fixed and movable projecting members into alignment to enter the stalks therebetween, springs for thereafter displacing the members in relation to one another and spring-controlled plungers passing through lugs on said movable bars and co-operating with said cams.

5. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, the combination of a combing section comprising endless bands, bars carried by said bands, and staples on said bars, and two decorticating and hackling sections for operating in succession upon opposite ends of the stalks and each comprising in combination endless bands, fixed bars carried thereby and having staples thereon, bars slidably mounted on said fixed bars and having staples and pins thereon, cams for bringing the fixed and movable projecting members into alignment to enter the stalks therebetween, springs for thereafter displacing the members in relation to one another and spring-controlled ball-ended plungers passing through lugs on said movable bars and co-operating with said cams.

6. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants a bar having two closely spaced rows of projecting members thereon, a second bar slidably mounted upon said first bar and also having a row of projecting members thereon, which are positioned between the said two rows of such members, means for bringing the row of projecting members on said movable bar into alignment with the projecting members in said other two rows to enable the stalks to enter therebetween, means for displacing said movable rows of projecting members in relation to the other two rows thereof so as to impart an acute double bend or loop formation to the stalks and means adapted to draw the so bent stalks past the projecting members.

7. In a machine according to claim 6 a conveyor adapted to grip the stalks at a medial portion thereof and a second conveyor adapted to move said bars transversely of the former conveyor, said second bar being slidable in a direction substantially parallel with the first conveyor.

8. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, the combination of a combing section, a decorticating section and hackling section for operating upon a part of the length of the mass of stalks, a second similar section for similarly operating upon the remainder of the length of the mass, and two conveying devices in overlapping relationship for feeding the stalks through the sections and transferring the same from one to the other, each decorticating and hackling section comprising in combination endless bands, stripper bars carried by said bands, and fixed and movable staples carried by said bars, the fixed staples spanning the movable staples.

9. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants, the combination of a combing section comprising endless bands, bars carried by said bands, and staples on said bars, and two deoorticating and hackling sections for operating in succession upon opposite ends of the stalks and each comprising in combination endless bands, fixed bars carried thereby and having staples thereon, bars slidably mounted on said fixed bars and having staples and pins thereon, cams for bringing the fixed and movable projecting members int-o aligmnent to enter the stalks therebetween, and springs for thereafter displacing the members in relation to one another, the cams being disposed to displace alternate movable bars in opposite directions.

10. In a machine for decorticating fibrous plants a plurality of bar devices each consisting of a first bar having projecting members thereon and a second bar slidably mounted relatively to the first bar and also having projecting members thereon, means for bringing the projecting members on each such bar devices into alignment to enable the stalks to enter therebetween, means for moving alternate second bars in opposite directions so as to move the projecting members thereon out of alignment with the projecting carried thereby and having staples thereon, bars slidably mounted on said fixed bars and having staples and pins thereon, cams for bringing the fixed and movable projecting members into alignment to enter the stalks therebetween, and springs for thereafter displacing the members in relation to one another, the fixed staples span-- ning the movable stripper bar elements and staples carried thereby.

WALTER JOHN HOLLIER. 

